Envy (Fawcett#4) (Proverbs 14:30; first Corinthians 13:4; Matthew 15:14; 23:16; John 9:5; Proverbs 12:5; 20:18)

With forty thousand homes destroyed,
When husbands – Romans – were deployed
To fight unnecessary war,
What was the end of all that gore?

Two thirds were dead, ten thousand sold
As slaves, which brought a chunk of gold
To victors who had lost few men,
So lived to fight their wars again.

And why? An ego – power, prestige –
A valued aspect Rome indeed
Esteemed as wanted in the head
Of country – but lost out instead.

Three men shared power at the time;
The third in shadows filled his mind
With visions of triumphal march,
When Spartacus gave him his start.

As Parthia, far to the east,
Was quiet, he selected these
As targets on his glory quest,
And gathered up from Rome the best.

Right from the first, led quite astray
By local guides, who showed the way
To death through land just fools would choose,
Where he would many men then lose.

He had no knowledge of the foe –
Their archers had a better bow,
Which went right through their armor mail –
Most died as targets – arrow hail.

The horsemen, more like knights of old
With lances – something to behold
Wrought havoc when engaged on field –
Forced Roman soldiers then to yield.

The town they fled to had no grub;
A local guide took them to mud
And swamp – when foe came at the dawn
Again they mowed large numbers down.

Survivors then gave up the fight;
Peace then returned with home, and quite
A few were sold as slaves that day;
And ego died – went nuts they say.

When envious of other’s gifts,
Or tasks appearing on their lists,
We fail to see without their skill,
We’d take them on, but end up killed.

To pay no heed to sound advice,
Would mean our end, would not be nice;
Much faster it will happen when
The task we do not comprehend.

But guiding blind, when we are blind,
Provides a service most unkind;
It’s bad enough the dark is here,
Advice is followed without fear –

Add in the twisted factor now,
Deceiver’s antics saying how
We can excel with his new plan –
That brings disaster to our land.

navigation